Via Sistina to Seek Romanet Riches at Deauville

Mrs. R. G. Hillen's G1 Pretty Polly S. winner Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) will head to France for her next start in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville on Aug. 20, trainer George Boughey revealed Tuesday. She most recently finished third in the G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. at Newmarket on July 14.

“Via Sistina is in great shape,” Boughey said. “It was a little frustrating watching the [G1] Nassau [last week at Goodwood] without having her in it in that [soft] ground, but it was never really the plan after we went to the Falmouth and she's getting ready to run in the Romanet at Deauville on Aug. 20.

“She'd had two quick runs and we've got to pick our battles–you can't run in every race–and it's been the plan to run in the Romanet for a long time should the ground be right for her. It's the last 4-year-old and above fillies-only race for her this year and we're very pleased with her. She worked yesterday [Monday] morning, Jamie Spencer sat on her and was very happy.”

In the Romanet, Via Sistina will return to 1 1/4 miles at Deauville and will go longer distances for the rest of her campaign, according to Boughey.

“We wanted to experiment over the mile in the Falmouth, but she was tapped for toe and we'll go back up in trip,” Boughey added.

“She's entered in the 10-furlong [G1 Champion S.] and the 12-furlong race [G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares S.] on Champions Day at Ascot and she'll be in the [G1] Prix de l'Opera over 10 [furlongs] on Arc day.”

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Prosperous Voyage Upsets Inspiral In The Falmouth

There was a surprise of grand proportions in store in Friday's G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. at Newmarket, as Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen's Prosperous Voyage (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) ruthlessly dragged Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) into the red to strip the July Festival's “good thing” of her unbeaten record. Bridesmaid to the Gosdens' luminary in the G2 May Hill S. and G1 Fillies' Mile at two, the resilient Ralph Beckett-trained bay who had been runner-up again in the 1000 Guineas was asked to go deep by Rob Hornby from the outset and responded with pressurising sectionals. Heading to two out, the damage had already been inflicted and while soon after the 1-7 favourite and Sandrine (GB) (Kitten's Joy) loomed, the 16-1 shot had most to give up the deciding incline. Inspiral had been at work for some time, but managed to stave off the challenge of Sandrine to at least obtain the first silver medal of her career, 1 3/4 lengths down on the impressive winner. Sandrine, who also had to run hard to enter the fray, paid for that late to drop away and finish a length further behind. “It is a horse race and anything can happen,” Beckett said of the winner, who had flopped as Inspiral shone when down the field in the G1 Coronation S. “Maybe Inspiral didn't turn up today, maybe she did bounce–there are lots of maybes, but this filly ran her race and that's all that really matters to me.”

 

Prosperous Voyage's progress throughout her juvenile campaign had assumed more the pace of a pleasure cruise than a high-speed ferry, with a narrow maiden win at Epsom followed by a second in a Chester novice and a third in the seven-furlong G3 Prestige S. at Goodwood in August. Picked off by Inspiral and beaten 3 3/4 lengths when upped to a mile and allowed to bowl along in the May Hill at Doncaster's St Leger meeting, she had narrowed that deficit to 2 1/2 lengths in the Fillies' Mile on the Rowley Mile here in October, but the overwhelming impression was that she would remain in her contemporary's shadow for some time.

Back over the course and distance of the Fillies' Mile in the May 1 1000 Guineas which was as much about those absent than it was those present, Prosperous Voyage ran a race well up to her 2-year-old form and had she been set the kind of examination she was on this sun-baked afternoon she would have caught Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}). As it was, she was a fast-vanishing neck margin away at the line before blowing out in the Coronation, where she faded uncharacteristically tamely from early straight and wound up nine-lengths 10th.

This upset came down to a filly that operated with deadly efficiency on ground as fast as it gets on the July Course in the modern age, versus one that was compromised by having such a tough assignment so soon after a dynamic effort at Royal Ascot. Time will tell whether Inspiral can get back on top in a rivalry that up until Friday afternoon had seemed anything but, with this gruelling task her first true experience of what it feels like to go deep into her reserves. Hornby put Prosperous Voyage on the limit of what she was capable of and her furlong-by-furlong fractions made it a race of truth which exposed a crack–temporary or otherwise–in the formidable armour of the favourite.

For Beckett, the key to the winner is a straight track. “She scraped home at Epsom, got beat at Chester and didn't act in the Coronation Stakes because she's not as effective around a bend–we know that now,” he explained. “When she's run on a straight track, she's run her race and this race was right for the horse. You will remember she was supposed run in the Saint-Alary, but the traffic was backed up so I decided not to send her and that probably counted today. Rob gave her a lovely ride–he did it in France last year on Scope and we don't lack faith in our rider. He never panics when he is challenged–he sits still and he suits this filly. He sat still on her and she came good underneath him. The Sun Chariot is the obvious race for her and we'll keep bringing her back to Newmarket.”

Hornby, who like Dettori has been in the news of late not only for his considerable riding talent, was happy to focus on his achievement on Friday. “She has a great character and a lot of personality,” he said of the winner. “She run such a heroic race in the Guineas and is a strong stayer who enjoys bowling away in front. Coming inside the three they came to challenge me, but she is so brave and gives her it all, all of the time. She hit the rising ground and stayed strongly. Today it was a matter of keeping the revs up and keep it smooth and flowing like the Guineas.”

“Days like this make everything worthwhile,” he added. “Nothing has ever happened for me straight away. I just plugged away through my apprenticeship through great guidance from Mr. Balding and the academy there, which stood me in good stead for the highs and lows that were to come for the rest of your career. It was terribly sad that we lost Scope after the yard had such a tremendous weekend and I was thinking it can't get any worse, but this is a crazy sport we play and hugely exciting.”

John Gosden was inclined to believe that Inspiral's reversal was down to backing up too fast from the Royal meeting. “You don't normally come here after a big win at Ascot, but she hadn't run all year so we did and I just thought she ran a little flat,” he said. “The ground has quickened up, but I think it's more the turnaround. You could tell early on that she was a little bit flat, so we'll freshen her up and away we go again. She seems happy enough.”

Cheveley Park Stud's Managing Director Chris Richardson commented, “Frankie basically felt that it probably came a bit quick after such a stunning performance at the Royal meeting and perhaps the ground was a little too quick for her, so it was a combination of the two. She's run a great race, so we'll give her a nice five or six-week break and freshen her up and see how we get on. To be fair, Mrs Thompson asked if this was something we should be doing but John and I agreed that it was tempting to come here having missed the Spring. Take nothing away from the winner, who was very impressive and hopefully we'll be back to have another go another day. We were concerned in the Spring even before her setback that fast ground might be a problem coming down into dip on the Rowley Mile.”

Prosperous Voyage's dam Seatone (Mizzen Mast), a Juddmonte cast-off who was a 115,000gns purchase by Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock at the 2011 Tattersalls December Mares Sale, is also responsible for the Australian stakes-placed Romanesque (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Her dam is the G3 Prix Corrida winner Diese (Diesis {GB}), who proved one of Juddmonte's abundant significant stakes producers when throwing the GI United Nations H. and G1 Clement L. Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship S. hero Senure (Nureyev) and fellow sire Speak In Passing (Danzig) who captured the GIII San Simeon H. She is also the second dam of the G2 Chairman's H. and G3 N E Manion Cup scorer Permit (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

The third dam is the G3 Ballyogan S. winner and G1 Phoenix S. runner-up Monroe (Sir Ivor), dam of the G1 Dewhurst S. and G1 Prix de la Salamandre-winning juvenile sensation and sire Xaar (GB) (Zafonic) and the G3 Prix Quincey scorer and G1 Grand Criteirum runner-up Masterclass (The Minstrel). She is also the ancestress of the G1 Dubai Duty Free-winning sire Cityscape (GB) (Selkirk) and the G2 Temple S.-winning sire Bated Breath (GB), as well as the five-times grade I-winning champion and stakes producer Close Hatches (First Defence). Seatone's unraced 2-year-old colt Tenerife (Ire) (No Nay Never) was the second-highest-priced lot at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2, selling to Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock for 450,000gns, while she also has a yearling filly by Camelot (GB).

Friday, Newmarket, Britain
TATTERSALLS FALMOUTH S.-G1, £250,000, Newmarket, 7-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 8fT, 1:36.03, g/f.
1–PROSPEROUS VOYAGE (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Zoffany (Ire)
     1st Dam: Seatone, by Mizzen Mast
     2nd Dam: Diese, by Diesis (GB)
     3rd Dam: Monroe, by Sir Ivor
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN, 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (£65,000 Ylg '20 GOFOR). O-Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen; B-Lynch Bages & Camas Park Stud (IRE); T-Ralph Beckett; J-Rob Hornby. £141,775. Lifetime Record: 9-2-4-1, $505,539. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Inspiral (GB), 126, f, 3, Frankel (GB)–Starscope (GB), by Selkirk. O-Cheveley Park Stud; B-Cheveley Park Stud Limited (GB); T-John & Thady Gosden. £53,750.
3–Sandrine (GB), 126, f, 3, Bobby's Kitten–Seychelloise (GB), by Pivotal (GB). O/B-Miss K Rausing (GB); T-Andrew Balding. £26,900.
Margins: 1 3/4, 1, 3 1/4. Odds: 16.00, 0.14, 12.00.
Also Ran: Primo Bacio (Ire), Sibila Spain (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

 

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Falmouth Clash to Savour on Friday

Now that the summer solstice is behind us, the best of the Classic generation will frequently be tested against their elders and when it comes to tying together the varying strands in the fillies and mares' miling division, Newmarket's G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. has it all on Friday. If the G1 Coronation S. helped to sort out the pecking order among the 3-year-olds, the G2 Duke of Cambridge S. also at Royal Ascot only served to muddy the waters when it comes to the more advanced in age. It is always tempting to side with the younger contingent and there is much to suggest that Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) have significantly more to offer having gone one-two in the Royal meeting's Coronation June 18. Oisin Murphy has an innate understanding of the former, who has now carried Jeff Smith's silks to two top-level victories having also annexed the Cheveley Park S. on the Rowley Mile track here in September. “I've sat on her since Royal Ascot and she's in great form,” he said. “She proved herself over a mile in the Coronation S. and I hope and think she can uphold that form here.”

Alcohol Free's trainer Andrew Balding added,  “It looks a proper race, but Alcohol Free is in good form and we hope she'll be as effective on the faster conditions as she was on the heavy ground at Ascot. We were delighted with her performance in the Coronation, so we go to Newmarket full of hope. We're renewing rivalry with a couple and there are some very good older fillies in the race as well–it's a proper Group 1 race.”

'TDN Rising Star' Snow Lantern was too free, met trouble in running and still finished just 1 1/2 lengths off Alcohol Free in the Coronation so it is understandable that the ever-bullish Richard Hannon is in confident mood. Her defeat at the hands of the impressive Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) in the Listed Michael Seely Memorial S. over this trip at York May 14 has been put down to a tendency to over-race, but with the ground riding fast on the July Course and no obvious pacemakers here Rockcliffe Stud's prized homebred will have to be far more tractable. “The winner won well at Ascot, but we look forward to taking her on again in the Falmouth,” he said. “We didn't really have the rub of the green that day. Hopefully the ground will be better this time, which will help our filly.”

Primo Bacio has been off the track since beating Snow Lantern at York in May, having been withdrawn from the Coronation Stakes on account of the testing conditions. David Ward's bay, who was taken out of the Coronation after the deluge, has to prove that her York win was no aberration but her lethal turn of acceleration will be valuable in what could turn out to be a tactical affair. “It was a really difficult decision to take her out–we didn't know that she would not have liked that ground, because she's by Awtaad who loved the mud,” trainer Ed Walker admitted. “Lots of people were questioning my decision on that basis, but knowing the filly I just didn't feel it was right. She is a good-moving filly with a really smart turn of foot and I think running her on a stiff mile in real bottomless ground and putting a massive emphasis on stamina just wasn't right. Andrea Atzeni got on seriously well with her at York and he rides her again, so that's good news. I've known Andrea for a long time and use him a lot when available, and he's a brilliant rider. He's got that cool and it suits a filly like that really well.”

Dominant over Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) and Alcohol Free when the ground was riding similarly slick in the May 2 G1 1000 Guineas, Ballydoyle's Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) is back in action again. Her two subsequent efforts when second and third respectively on unsuitably soft going in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches at ParisLongchamp May 16 and the Coronation showed her to be as game as she is classy and she remains unexposed on this trip and ground. “This is a very good and deep renewal of the Falmouth and it will take plenty of winning,” Ryan Moore said. “My filly obviously ran well when third to Alcohol Free and Snow Lantern in the Coronation S. last time, but I'd like to think she is a bit better than she showed there. Her 1000 Guineas win and subsequent second in France clearly mark her out as a high-class operator and she acts on quick and deep ground, so she is versatile on that score with more rain about.”

There is little between Indie Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Lady Bowthorpe (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal) and Champers Elysees (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) on the form of the Duke of Cambridge June 16, where the Cheveley Park's mercurial grey had things fall into place. Supplemented for this, Indie Angel will need to prove that her Royal Ascot career-best was not a one-off. “If it had closed a day after the Duke of Cambridge, rather than the day before, she would have been in it,” the Stud's managing director Chris Richardson said. “She bounces off quick ground, so we're just hoping there's no more rain. She's in good form. John [Gosden] is very happy with her and hopefully Frankie [Dettori] can work his magic again.”

In the nine-furlong G2 Dahlia S. here May 2, it was Lady Bowthorpe and Queen Power who had Indie Angel's measure and with the former going on to chase home Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in Newbury's G1 Lockinge S. May 15 she narrowly sets the standard.

In the card's six-furlong G2 Duchess of Cambridge S., there is a fascinating rematch between the June 18 G3 Albany S. one-two-three Sandrine (GB) (Bobby's Kitten), Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) with this ground offering a vastly contrasting scenario. With the Royal meeting only just surviving an inspection on that day, it is impossible to know how the trio or the well-beaten 'TDN Rising Star' Flotus (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) will perform here but it is still a learning process for the raw juvenile fillies at this stage.

Interestingly, Thursday's G2 Tattersalls July S. was fought out by a trio who swerved the fast ground prevalent on the first three days of Royal Ascot and it will be fascinating to see how the fillies fare with the Albany run on slow ground. Sandrine's trainer Andrew Balding said, “I've been very happy with her since Ascot. Ground conditions will be very different and that's a question mark, but she seems in good form and I thought she was very impressive in the Albany, so fingers crossed for a good run.”

Click here for the group fields.

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Snow Lantern “Fresh as a Daisy” For Falmouth

Group 1-placed Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who was second by 1 1/2 lengths in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot on June 18, is “fresh as a daisy” according to trainer Richard Hannon in advance of the July 9 G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. at Newmarket during the Moet & Chandon July Festival.

Hannon said of the daughter of 2013 G1 1000 Guineas winner and Falmouth runner-up Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}), “She hasn't won a 1000 Guineas like her mum but she is going there hopefully to win where her mother didn't but should have and it would be nice if she did just that. She is as fresh as a daisy. She is in good nick and is good enough to win a race like this. There is a score to be settled there and it would give us some sort of closure.”

Second when unveiled at Ascot in late July of 2020, the grey earned her 'TDN Rising Star' badge with a tally at Newbury in a maiden stakes on Apr. 18. Kept out of the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas, she picked up some black-type when third in the Listed Michael Seely Memorial S. at York on May 14 prior to her Coronation effort. Coronation S. heroine Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never is likely to turn up in the Falmouth.

“She was back to her best at Ascot,” Hannon continued. “She came with a lovely run, she just got tight for room for a little bit but she ran a lovely race and it showed you could put a line through the York effort. She hasn't been thrown in the deep end every time this year or last year but we are there now and she is able to compete at that level, she just needs to get a bit of luck.”

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